Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday- Dark YA

Top Ten Tuesday is a really cool original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and The Bookish. Each week they post a new Top Ten List that bloggers join in on answering... and today (March 1st) I'm one of them :)

Top Ten Books To Read If You Are In The Mood For Something Dark



  • When I say "dark" when describing a book, what I mean is a book about tough subjects.  Good things aren't going to be happening much due to a character dealing with something really BIG and Heavy.  I know not everybody likes to read stuff like this, but I consider them among my very favorite types of books :)  PS- A lot of these are older because I guess I haven't found any great newer YA books that deal with the tough stuff.




1.  Crank by Ellen Hopkins- This is the first of a series of books written in a very unique prose (at least unique to Ellen Hopkins anyhow).  It takes a tough look at addiction to Meth and the toll it takes on the family.
2.  Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson- Such a beautiful and heartbreaking book.  A MUST for YA Readers!!
3.  Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher- This is a book about a suicide which you know about from the beginning, so you can guess that it's never coming from a happy place.
4.  Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers- I. Love. This. Book.  Parker is one of the hardest characters I've ever read about.  She's SO damaged and hurt and she's NOT going to act how you want her to act.
5.  Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King- A.S. King knows how to hurt my soul.... this book definitely did!!
6. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult- This is about a school shooting & it is classified as Adult, but it features so many teen narrators that I think it feels a lot like YA.
7.  I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga- Your dad is the most infamous serial killer in the world.... you're going to be f-d up.
8.  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold- Another Adult book that I feel could easily be sold as YA.
9.  Hate List by Jennifer Brown- Another school shooting book.  This one is SO powerful and I hurt SO much while reading it.  It instantly made me a GIANT Jennifer Brown fan.
10.  Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison- I really enjoyed this book when it came out in 2013 & I wish it would have got more attention.  It largely flew under the radar, but it was a beautifully written book about mental illness and death and healing.
11.  Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn- Gah, Stephanie Kuehn always writes books that completely shock me with their ability to just GO FOR IT.  This book was creepy and twisty and NOT happy in any small way.



Bonus:




  • The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas- Since a lot of the books on my list were older, I thought I'd include this brand new one that I just finished and LOVED.  It comes out 4/19 and I SO recommend!



What books are you recommending this week?


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23 comments:

  1. I like dark YA. I really enjoyed Thirteen Reasons and The Lovely Bones. Nineteen Minutes was another favorite and I just love Jodi Piccoult in general. Great list!!

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    1. I LOVE Jodi Picoult too & need to catch up on some of her newer books.

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  2. I love dark YA! I loved Thirteen Reasons Why, Nineteen Minutes, and The Lovely Bones. I would really like to read Crank and Speak soon. Fantastic list! :D

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    1. I SO hope you read Speak. To me it's like the grand-daddy of YA.

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  3. I definitely don't read a lot of dark YA. I have only read the I Hunt Killers series from your list. I need to investigate some of these titles that you shared.

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  4. I don't mind a dark YA--I definitely probably would have added Mara Dyer which is one of my absolute faves! I definitely want to check out the rest of the I Hunt Killers books--I liked the first one!

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    1. I *almost* put Mara Dyer on this list, but since it has some paranormal elements to it, I didn't know exactly how to classify it.

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  5. I do like your list! I love dark YA as well as the lighter side. :-)

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  6. Ooooo, I gotta love Speak!!! I read it in the past years and enjoyed it a lot.

    Here's a link to my TTT post for the week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2016/03/top-ten-tuesday-eleven-books-to-read-if.html

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    1. I'd like to do a re-read soon!

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    2. Yes, this novel is definitely reread worthy! I still need to read Wintergirls and Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson-as well.

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  7. I love dark books! I loved Speak and The Lovely Bones, and now I want to add Complicit to my TBR. But seriously, I can't wait to read The Darkest Corners. I'm so glad you loved it!
    Cassi @ My Thoughts Literally

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    1. It was really good. I didn't LOVE the ending as I thought it went a little all over the place, but the lead up to the end was definitely page-turning.

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  8. I love dark books! I loved Speak and The Lovely Bones, and now I want to add Complicit to my TBR. But seriously, I can't wait to read The Darkest Corners. I'm so glad you loved it!
    Cassi @ My Thoughts Literally

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  9. I don't know a lot of these but I agree, it is nice to read something sometimes that is thought provoking. Several of these look very promising...

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  10. I could not put Lovely Bones down when I read it. It was such a great book. I've been meaning to read Speak forever.. this is a great list!

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  11. I love a little dark YA. I Hunt Killers is such a good book, I love that series. I really want to read The Darkest Corners, glad to hear you enjoyed it!

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  12. I love dark YA! I haven't read any on your list yet but about half of these are on my TBR.

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  13. Nneteen minutes was excellent!! Good Choice!

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  14. I loooooove dark YA. CRACKED UP TO BE and I HUNT KILLERS are two of my absolute faves, great list!

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    1. YAY!! Both those books are amazing and underrated. I wish more people would read them.

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  15. I love dark YA, but I haven't read many of these. I have to fix that soon!

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  16. Great list! Speak is one of the most powerful books I've ever read.

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